Top all-time · #25832
Michael Simmons
Personal blog · blockbuster.thoughtleader.schoolwritingproductivity
Michael Simmons writes Blockbuster Blueprint, a personal blog at blockbuster.thoughtleader.school about writing and productivity. Since 2024, 3 different Hacker News readers have linked it 4 times. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-22, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (4) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Commenters link these posts about how Ben Thompson built Stratechery into a successful independent writing business, and one about a Rick Rubin interview. The comments cite them as examples rather than judging the writing.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 4 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Receive a step-by-step, proven system to create 10x quality & quantity content with AI. Weekly emails contain a deep-dive or video lesson from a famous thinker and an easy way to apply it. Think Masterclass for idea creators. Click to read Blockbuster Blueprint, by Michael Simmons, a Substack public
Most-linked posts?
- /p/how-ben-thompson-got-40000-paid-newsletter2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-12-28
What Hacker News says?
The web is just as “open” as it ever was. It is just as easy if not more so to create and host your own content. You’re complaining about “discoverability” which hasn’t been easy since 2000. The most successful independent writer today is probably Ben Thompson’s “Stratechery” https://stratechery.com/about/ https://blockbuster.thoughtleader.school/p/how-ben-thompson-... Through organic search, you probably won’t find…
Comment linking /p/how-ben-thompson-got-40000-paid-newsletter
on “Google's Results Are Infested, Open AI Is Using Their Playbook from the 2000s”I read Stratechery. He’s had some novel thoughts. He just repeats them ad nauseam. He’s made quite a living from blogging. https://blockbuster.thoughtleader.school/p/how-ben-thompson-...
Comment linking /p/how-ben-thompson-got-40000-paid-newsletter
on “It’s still worth blogging in the age of AI”It’s funny when someone calls the most financially successful, connected podcaster/writer “the guy” like he is some random blogger. Substack was actually inspired by his success trying to make the infrastructure he built - well paid to have built - to enable newsletters and podcasters for writers to be more widely available. https://blockbuster.thoughtleader.school/p/how-ben-thompson-...
Comment linking /p/how-ben-thompson-got-40000-paid-newsletter
on “DeepSeek FAQ”Microsoft could use someone like that, though. You don’t need an engineer to be the CEO of the company. The company has hundreds or thousands of engineers already. The CEO’s job isn’t to make things, it’s to make decisions - and often it’s helpful for that person to have a strong sense of taste. I’m reminded of this interview with Rick Rubin: https://blockbuster.thoughtleader.school/p/rick-rubin-i-have...
Comment linking /p/rick-rubin-i-have-confidence-in-my
on “Bill Gates on Steve Jobs”